


A Wet Heat

by neerdowellwolf



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Age Difference, Casual Sex, F/M, Friends With Benefits, Girl!Auston, Lack of Communication, Offseason Shenanigans, Open Marriage, Rule 63, Semi-Public Sex, Summer, Women in the NHL
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2020-12-23 13:28:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21081683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neerdowellwolf/pseuds/neerdowellwolf
Summary: When Megan Thee Stallion saidHot Girl Summer, Auston felt that.





	1. Arizona is for Lovers

**Author's Note:**

> A few notes:  
There are a bunch more pairings that will be added in future chapters.
> 
> This is based fairly closely on Auston's actual summer vacation this year, with one pretty large exception. I did not include what happened with his disorderly conduct charge. There are a lot of reasons for this that I won't really get into, but regardless it won't be part of this fic/AU. I feel weird about publishing this fic at all to be honest, but part of the reason I like to read and write Women in the NHL fic is imagining a better less sexist and cruel world, for whatever that's worth.
> 
> Content warnings in the end notes.

Auston has a lot of options when they lose game seven. She barely considers any of them; goes back to Toronto, packs her apartment and books a ticket home. She leaves behind the media speculation about Mitch's contract, the sting of another first round exit and the heavy awkwardness hanging over every interaction with Freddie. She boards her flight and doesn't look back.

During the season her body craves the heat. She tries to find a substitute, dragging the boys to the sauna with her, even though they prefer the steam room. It's good, but it's not the same as getting off the plane in Phoenix and breathing that hot, dry air into her lungs.

She loves Arizona and she loves spending the summer here. Loves living with Trevor, even if he said they shouldn't keep fooling around if they're going to be roommates again. She loves dinners at her parents' house, getting to see her sisters. She loves sitting out late at night, the heat of the day still in the air, how warm the deck feels under her feet long after the sun has set. 

And she really, really loves getting to sleep around without having to worry about who will see or what the media will say. 

-

Noah texts a week before he comes into town. He tries to claim it's because his dad finally sent him the itinerary for their trip to Scottsdale and not because of the thirst trap Auston just posted on snapchat. She lets it stand, but she has her doubts. 

He and his family play 18 holes a day during their trip. She joins them for the back nine on their last day, hits a 35 which is fine, but she's been stalling around there since she got home. They head for drinks in the clubhouse when they're done, gulping down a full pitcher of water before ordering. 

After a couple rounds, Auston starts to get fidgety. She asks Noah's uncle about his boat and while he's giving her an in depth description of the hull material, she snaps Noah a tasteful pic of her tits from her nudes folder. He opens it and then flips his phone face down on the table, his cheeks turning an extremely appealing shade of pink. 

"What the fuck," he mouths at her. She shrugs. 

He ditches out on dinner with his family and goes with her to Old Town. They play a couple rounds of beer pong before she commandeers a picnic table outside while he gets the next round. He comes back with their beers and sits on the same side as her, their legs pressed together.

"The blonde at the bar is cute," she says idly. Noah had lingered, just a bit. 

"Sure," he says and licks a little foam off his top lip.

"Not gonna try for it?" The song changes to something the Rangers always play during warm ups. She pulls out her phone to Shazam it. 

"Jealousy isn't really your style Matts." He smirks. 

"I get jealous," she says. She doesn't like to admit it and it doesn't happen often, but she does. 

"Yeah, but not with me," Noah says. "Come on, let's get out of here, I have to fly out early and my dad will kill me if I oversleep."

The first time they ever fucked was in the program. Auston was up with the U18s for the first time, doing everything she could to not get sent back down. She'd never had to fight for a spot on a team before and she loved it. Loved how hard she had to push herself, how it felt to stay up, to get more and more minutes every game. 

So when Noah smiled at her across Colin's billet family's basement she'd followed him into their laundry room and let him slip his hand down her sweats. She liked the way that felt too.

He's not the broadest guy she's slept with it, but he's still big enough that her hips strain wrapping her legs around him. He knows what he's doing, so she stretches out on her bed, lets him kneel between her legs and guide himself into her, content to wrap one arm around him, and feel the way his back moves as he fucks her.

She hears from Cheeks a week later that he and his ex are back together. It doesn't make a huge difference to her one way or another, they'll probably be off again by the time the Leafs play Calgary anyway.

-

She gets a plane for her and Trevor to go to Texas for Zac’s wedding. It’s ass early when they fly out, but she can’t fall back asleep. Trevor is reading across the aisle from her and she kicks him to get his attention. 

“Does your no hook up rule extend to weddings?” She grins at him. 

He rolls his eyes at her. “Yes, it extends to weddings.” 

“Boring,” she says. She connects to the wifi and scrolls through her finsta feed. Freddie is in Laguna. She he tries not to dwell on the fact that he hasn't invited her to visit, but it stings. 

“You’re in the wedding party,” Trevor says. “You won’t have any trouble picking up.” 

“Yeah, but sex is more fun with friends.” She pouts at him. 

“Please don’t fuck one of the other groomsman,” he says. “It’s unseemly.” 

“Hot girl summer, Trev,” Auston says. “Hot girl summer.”

-

She plays more golf while she still can, before it gets too hot, even early in the morning. More of the Yotes stuck around this summer than normal. They think they're used to the Arizona heat, but they have no idea. She and Fisch play a round and by the seventh hole he looks at her murderously, as if she personally made it a hundred and four degrees. 

"I can't believe it gets worse."

"Believe it, buddy." She grins and chips her ball cleanly onto the green. 

-

A few days after Clayton gets back from Worlds they have dinner at some place he likes in Central Scottsdale. It's nice, he doesn't usually spend the offseason in Arizona, so they haven't lived in the same place since Ann Arbor. They text during the season, but it's fun to have him around. It surprises her how much she likes that he calls this home now. 

As they walk out of the restaurant she pulls out her phone to call a car. He puts a hand on her arm. "Nah, I'll drive you."

Auston forgot he bought a Porsche until the valet pulls it around. It's one of the compact ones, low slung and sexy. She slides in and he's out of the parking lot before she's even buckled her seatbelt. 

"I love this car," he says and grins at her, goofy and sincere. She smiles back and sinks into the smooth leather seat, feeling the way the engine purrs beneath them as he pulls onto the 101. 

"Get off here," Auston says after a couple miles. She likes this car too much, how powerful it feels, how smoothly it uses all that horsepower. Clayton glances over and does as she says, taking a quiet two lane road past her old country club, the lights of the houses getting less and less frequent as they drive. 

"None of this was here when I was growing up," Auston says. It feels like they're slicing through the desert like a knife.

"Yeah?" Clayton shifts gears and the car accelerates. It catches in her chest, the way the speed makes her feel.

She shifts to look at him and he doesn't look back, concentrates on the road, but she knows what she'd see if he did, that same hopeful expression he's had since they were sixteen. 

She leans over and presses her hand against his dick through his sweats. He's half hard already, like she knew he would be. 

"Jesus, fuck, Auston," he says and the car starts to slow down. 

"Don't stop," she says and slips her hand into his sweats, feeling the warm, smooth skin of his dick. "You don't stop, I don't stop ok?"

Clayton swallows audibly as she thumbs at the head of his dick. He's all the way hard now and she strokes him with smooth strokes of her hand, or as smooth as she can make it at this angle. It's too dry, but he's still whining and twisting in his seat. All she can hear is the engine and the muffled sound of her hand in his pants. 

Auston is so wet she has to press her legs together to relieve the pressure. She wants to touch herself, but she’s entranced watching the headlights cut through the night, feeling his dick twitch in her hand, the way his breath is getting increasingly labored. 

"Aus, Auston." His cheeks are pink. She likes that she did this to him. "I'm gonna come, you have to stop."

"There's a turn in a mile," she says. Her sister showed her this scenic overlook when she got home from Switzerland. Hopefully it's still just as secluded. 

She slows her hand down for the last bit of the drive. Clayton's knuckles are white where they're gripping the wheel. 

He's barely gotten the car into park when she pulls his sweats down and gets her mouth on him. He tastes like precum and she takes him as deep as she can into the back of her throat, moaning when she finally slips her hand between her legs. The car is tiny and it's cramped like this, the gear shift digging into her side, but she's so turned on she doesn't care, breathing through her nose, so she can keep him deep in her throat.

Auston hears him smack the roof with his hand when he's about to come. She lets him come in her mouth, swallowing around him until he starts to pull away. She's close, just from rubbing herself through her shorts, gets herself the rest of the way there with her face pressed into his leg. 

“Wow,” Clayton says and Auston muffles her laughter in the material of his pants. 

Trevor is still up when she gets home. He's sprawled on the couch watching some boring cooking show. She drops onto the other end of the couch, throwing her legs over his lap. 

He raises his eyebrows. "So, Kells, huh?"

Auston doesn't bother asking how he guessed. She clicks her tongue affirmatively, thinking about the warm, smooth metal of the hood of Clayton's car under her palms as he'd fucked her. 

"You gonna fuck him again?"

"Nah," she says, "but I'm definitely buying a Porsche."

-

They hook up again after an informal Coyotes skate later that week. She rides him despite her concern she'll crush him. It surprises her how powerful it makes her feel when she leans over to kiss him. She hooks her ankles under his legs and he moans deep in his throat. He sticks around after and Trevor grills a whole fish for the three of them. It’s nice.

Auston and Trevor invite people over for the Fourth. They realize late just how many people are coming and have to scramble to get more supplies last minute. Trevor offers to take care of the food if Auston gets the booze. He makes a detailed list before heading out to Whole Foods. When she hears him pull back in the driveway she quickly pulls up Drizzly and orders about double the beer and tequila she thinks they’ll need. 

Clayton arrives late in the afternoon, after most of the guys are already there. Auston answers the door in american flag booty shorts and a neon pink crop top. Clayton smiles and blushes, like he hadn't been inside her two days ago. 

"Come on." Auston nods her head towards the pool. 

"I brought White Claws," Clayton says, holding up a paper bag.

"What flavor?" Auston asks. She sways her hips a little and turns to see his eyes follow. 

"Grapefruit?" Clayton says, like it just occurred to him there could be a wrong answer. 

"Eh." Auston shrugs. Could be mango. 

It's a good day. The party is mostly Yotes and some Sun Devils, a few girls Auston knows from her yoga class. She spends the afternoon playing cornhole and lounging in the pool. Trevor grills and when the sun finally starts to set Auston lights up one of the joints Jon brought. Clayton sits next to her on the couch and leans into her side, grabbing the joint after she takes a couple hits. It's been a while since she's been high and she grins at how loose she feels. 

When Clayton passes the joint Auston reaches her hand up to run her fingers through his hair. She intends it to be a quick friendly gesture but she's surprised by how soft his hair is. She gets lost in the feeling of how silky it is, until she notices he's gone still under her arm. 

"Aus," he breathes out, quiet enough, so no one else can hear. "What are we doing?"

Auston doesn't really know how to answer that question. "Your hair is really soft."

They end up behind the pool house, kissing against the stucco wall. Auston forgot how much she likes kissing when she's high and she crowds Clayton against the wall, her forearms bracketing his head as she revels in the velvety soft feeling of his tongue against hers. 

They're both still wearing their sunglasses which isn't necessary anymore, but she doesn't want to stop kissing to take them off, so she doesn't. His hat is on the ground and her bandana is somewhere, she's not sure. 

Their height difference means she has to lean down to kiss him. She kind of likes it, but it means she can't grind against him like she wants. She decides she wants to feel his hands, so she grabs them and puts them under her shirt, one on her hip and the other on her right tit. Clayton groans. Eventually she drags him across the yard and into the house. The few people remaining are taking instas with sparklers and barely pay attention to them as they scurry into the house. 

When they finally make it to her bed she can't get enough of the feeling of his skin against hers. They make out for what feels like hours, and she gets lost in the sensations, the way his body feels, hard and compact. 

"Get a condom," she tells him eventually, but she doesn't unravel her arms from around his shoulders. He's sucking a hickey into her neck and she shouldn't let him, but it feels so good. When he pulls away she whines. "No, don't stop."

"Do you want me to get a condom or keep doing this?" He draws his tongue over the spot on her neck.

"Mmmmmmm, both." 

"Aus, come on." He slowly extricates himself from her arms, kissing her when she whines. "I'll be right back," he laughs. 

He moves away and she can hear him rummaging through her drawer. "Kells," she whines, long and drawn out. "Come back, I need you."

He chuckles. "You're so impatient, give me a second." She hears the rip of the wrapper and then he's back, holding himself above her. He smiles at her. “Hey.” 

"Fucking finally," she says and pulls him in to kiss her again. When he pushes into her she whines at how good it feels. "Just like that. Come on, Clayton.” She says, drawing out his name. She likes how safe she feels with him. Not like sex with randos can’t be good, but nothing beats fucking someone she knows. 

“Auston,” he says before kissing her. 

They don't stop kissing. Auston keeps her hands buried in Clayton's hair and they kiss and kiss and kiss, the sex almost secondary until they're both coming, moaning into each other's mouths. 

The next morning Auston wakes up vaguely hungover, rolls over and picks up her phone to check the time. She notices she has a couple snapchat notifications, so she thumbs it open. There's one from Zach of just his abs, and then a couple from the trainer at her gym with the good forearms. Nothing exciting. 

Clayton rolls over and presses a kiss to her shoulder, but before she can even consider if they have enough time before she needs to leave for the gym he's moving away from her. 

Auston puts her phone down and turns over to face him. She's surprised to see him sitting at the edge of the bed, his back to her. 

"Listen, Aus," he starts. "This friends with benefits thing isn't working for me."

"Oh," she says. She thought it had been working great. Sure she hadn't expected it when she'd come back for the summer, but they've been bros forever and the sex turned out to be amazing. Apparently Clayton thought otherwise. 

"I really like you, Aus." He says, looking pained. 

Auston can't believe she's being dumped like this. She didn't even realize fuck buddies could dump each other. "That's chill, I understand," she says. "We can just be friends, obviously." She doesn't want to hurt her friendship with him just because he doesn't want to fuck anymore. 

"Right, ok.” He gets up and starts gathering his clothes from where they’re scattered around the room. Auston isn't sure why he seems so upset. She's the one whose pussy game is apparently weak. 

Clayton leaves and it's kind of awkward between them. Auston dwells on it until the afternoon when Barzy texts her about his trip. Clearly her pussy can't be totally wack if he's flying to Arizona for it.


	2. She Belongs To The Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anyone who visits Arizona in July must have a really, really good reason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings have been updated in the tags.

Auston wakes up early enough that light is barely starting to peak around the curtains. She buries her face in her pillow and reaches out to pull her phone off the charger. It's quarter after seven, too late to bother going back to sleep. She opens Instagram and scrolls through mostly pictures from Zach's wedding as her brain starts to wake up. She doesn't regret not going, she'd turned down basically every wedding she’d been invited to this year. She's glad she decided to stay in Scottsdale for most of the summer instead of flying to Canada or the east coast every few weeks. Still she feels a little wistful looking at how much fun everyone had without her

Of course Freddie is in, like, half the pictures. He'd texted her last week, asking if she was going. It was nice, things finally feeling less awkward between them. He’s in the background of one of Willy's videos, chatting with some blonde woman in a tight floral dress. It makes Auston feel queasy and she closes the app.

Auston texts with Patty, because he's not there either and she misses him. She invites him to visit, but he hems and haws about it, worried Christina won't want him gone during the off season. 

He facetimes later that night, face bright and a little shy. "She says to send her the dates that work for you."

"I knew she'd let you!" Auston crows. She's out on the patio at her parent's place, the sun has long since set, but the heat remains. Her skin still has a soft sheen of sweat over it. He chuckles and ducks his head. She loves when he looks bashful like this, like he's just some random suburban dad and not a fucking legend. 

"Christina's going to send the boys to stay with her parents for the week. She and her friends are already planning a spa trip."

"Yeah, get it, Chris!" Auston says. "You're going to need a spa trip when I'm done with you," she adds, not bothering to look around to see if anyone has come outside.

"Go easy on me," Patty says, his cheeks getting pinker. 

Auston grins. "No chance old man."

Patty rolls his eyes, but indulgently and Auston preens, because she can tell he's excited by the way the corners of his mouth turn up and he won't meet her eyes.

Two texts come through from Christina, but she thumbs them away for now. 

"I gotta go, I'm picking Barzy up at the airport soon." Auston smirks at him. "I bet he won't tell me to go easy on him."

Patty laughs. "I bet he will," he says and glances over his shoulder at a loud crash. "And that's my cue."

"See you soon, Daddy," Auston says, winking outrageously. 

"Please don't call me that," Patty says. He gets up and then looks at the camera. "I'm really excited to see you."

Auston doesn't know what to do with how it makes her feel when he's so sincere, so she pouts in a way she knows plays up her lips. "Me too Da-" but he ends the call before she can finish. 

She remembers to look at her texts while she's waiting at the curb at Sky Harbor. There are a bunch from Chucky, she assumes he's drunk at some beach bar, but she thumbs over to Christina's first. 

Best Marleau  
_This is the best idea, thank you so much._

_Don't break his dick again!_

Auston  
_That was one time!_

__

__

_Why's it so fragile?!_

Best Marleau  
_It didn't used to be like this!_

__

__

_Never get old!!!!_

Auston  
_Menopause sounds dope tho_

Best Marleau  
_I'm not that old lol oh my god_

__

__

_IEmail me the dates and I'll work it out. _

_We all miss you so much!!_

Auston  
_Love you! _😘😘😘

Auston jumps when her passenger side door opens, but it's just Mat.

"Holy shit Matts," Mat pants, throwing his duffle in her backseat. "It's so fucking hot, what the fuck."

"Toughen up, Barz," Auston says and rolls down the windows, just to fuck with him. "You BC boys are so soft."

Mat pushes his hair off his forehead. "I'm gonna tell Mo you said that."

"Go ahead." Auston gets beeped at as she pulls away from the curb. She pushes down the urge to give them the finger. "What's he gonna do, he's even softer than you."

Mat laughs and leans his head out the window into the breeze. "Why couldn't you visit me? BC is amazing right now."

"Because I asked you to come here," Auston says sweetly.

She takes pity on him when they get back to her house and they take a cool shower together. She works a soapy hand up his dick, feeling it get hard in her hand. 

They fuck on top of the covers of her bed, still damp from the shower. Mat presses his forehead against hers and links their fingers, because he's cheesy like that. 

Once they recover they scrounge up dinner from the groceries Trevor picked up, then go for a swim in her pool. She sits on the edge of the shallow end and beckons him closer. “Missed your fingers, Barzy.” He grins, pleased, and hooks his thumb into her suit.

She eggs him on until he's three fingers deep inside her and she's writhing on the pool deck, the concrete scratching her back. It's probably a bad idea, but why even invest in the taller fence if she isn't going to live her best life. Trevor’s bedroom faces the street, and anyway he’s heard and seen worse. 

-

Mat’s being clingy the next morning, kissing her on the cheek and bumping their hips together while they make omelettes. It's not really like him, but she supposes they don't get a lot of mornings together, one of them always flying out early. 

After training she takes him to The Hot Chick and absolutely destroys him in air hockey, then lets him win at basketball while they work through a pitcher of beer.

"I'm glad you invited me," Mat says, nudging her foot under the table. 

"Me too, babe." She likes the way he smiles and blushes. "Wanna fuck me in the bathroom?"

"Here?" He says, looking around. It's the middle of the day, so the crowd is pretty light.

"There's a single bathroom past the other two." She winks. "No one knows it's there."

He smiles, Ken doll handsome. "But you do?"

"I blew Trevor in there." She shrugs. "A couple times."

It's the wrong thing to say, he looks surprised, maybe even a little upset for some reason. "Your roommate Trevor?"

"Yeah, but that was last summer," Auston says. "It's no big deal."

Mat leans back in the booth, stretches his arm over the seat. "You, like, hook up with all your friends, Matthews?"

"You look all gift horses in the mouth, Barzal?"

He laughs, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes. "I guess not," he says and gets up. "Lead the way."

He absolutely rails her in the bathroom, hard, fast and so, so good, until she's sinking her teeth into her forearm to keep from screaming loud enough for the entire bar to hear. 

Auston needs a minute to pull herself together when they're done and she looks up at him in the mirror over the sink she's bent over. He looks impossibly smug as he pulls up his shorts. He's been kind of sensitive today, so she throws him a bone. "Holy shit, Barz," she says, making her voice sound more breathless than she actually feels. 

"Yeah?" He traces his hand up her bare hip. 

She blinks slowly up at him. "Yeah, help me out will you, I don't think my legs work." 

He stands behind her and pulls her up, so his chest is pressed to her back and kisses her. He's good at this and she gets lost in it until there's a knock at the door. 

"Might be a while," Mat yells and Auston stifles a giggle. 

"Ok, we should probably go now," Auston says, pulling her shorts up. "I don't need this ending up on reddit."

Mat nods, presses a quick peck to her lips and slips out the door. "Bro, it's hella clogged," she hears from the hallway. "I'm gonna go tell someone. It's a horror show in there."

A few seconds later he sticks his head back through the door, a huge smile on his face. "Coast is clear."

Auston smiles back and follows him out. 

-

They spend the next few days training in the morning, skating in the afternoon, then fucking with the AC cranked up in her bedroom. The day he's set to leave they fuck three times, until he's at risk of missing his flight. 

"See you in November, Barzy," she says as she kisses him goodbye across her front seat while she idles at the curb at the terminal. 

He smiles. "Probably August, I think I'm doing Belfry this year." 

"Oh hell yeah," she says and tries to ignore the way her mind immediately jumps to Freddie. 

"So, we'll see each other soon." Mat looks at her from under his long, gorgeous eyelashes. Auston thinks if she were any other girl she'd be done for, getting this look from a boy that beautiful. 

"Have a good flight," she says and gives him a friendly punch on the arm. 

She drives straight to the gym, even though it'll make her a little early. Auston thinks she deserves to stare a little at the trainer with the amazing arms before she gets to work. 

Auston tries not to, but she can't stop worrying about Freddie and Mat being at the same camp. It's dumb, because Freddie made it very clear he wasn't interested, so it's not like he'll care about what or who she does. Maybe it'll be good for him to see her with someone as hot as Barz. 

That goes out the window when Mat texts a few days later that they probably shouldn't hook up anymore. Auston tries not to wallow, but she can't help but worry that maybe her pussy game isn't on point as it used to be. Clayton had been a new thing, but she and Barz have been hooking up since his rookie season. 

Still it's summer, so it's hard to dwell too much. Trevor keeps making more and more elaborate dinners and she takes Nala to the rink to hang out with Jon and Alta. She's already spent all summer ignoring Mitch's contract negotiations and what happened with Freddie, adding one more thing is easy. 

-

Auston is late picking Patty up from the airport, because training runs long and there's construction on the 202. He doesn't look annoyed when she finally gets there, just pulls her into a big hug that immediately melts the tension away. 

She pulls over as soon as they get off the highway to make out, even though they're like 10 minutes tops from the house she rented. She already has a perfectly good house, but Trevor's cousins are visiting. It's not like Auston is embarrassed, but who knows how many empty Bud Light cans are lining the kitchen counter right now. 

Auston hums and pulls back. She buckles her seatbelt and smooths out her hair. Patty smiles and puts his hand on her knee. "I missed you," he says. 

Auston grins, wide and cocky. "Of course you did." She puts the car in drive. With her eyes safely on the road she says, "I missed you too."

He wants to unpack his bag when they get to the house, but she crowds him until he gives up and lets her push him onto the bed. 

"It would have taken five minutes," he says as she shoves his shirt up his chest. 

Auston leaves it half tucked up in his armpits and moves to his shorts. "Don't care."

She rides him half dressed, his legs still hanging over the edge of the bed. He puts up a half hearted protest to at least take his shoes off, but groans and drops his head back when she pumps her hand up and down his dick, getting it hard enough to roll the condom on. They'll do it his way for round two.

She's close when he comes and without saying anything, he drops to his knees next to the bed and gets his mouth on her. It doesn't take much, just the steady pressure of his tongue and she's coming with a shout. 

"Oh no, Patty, your knees," she says as he gets up slowly. 

He smiles and leans down to press a soft kiss to her lips. "They're fine. I knew you were close."

"So cocky." She watches him straighten himself back out and open his suitcase. He hangs his shirts in the closet, smoothing out the fabric.

He glances back at her. "It's not cocky if it's true."

"Yes, exactly!" She shimmies her underwear back up, but kicks away her shorts.

He carries his toiletry bag into the en suite bathroom. "You might be pushing the limits of that saying."

She grins and stretches the muscles in her back. "Yeah."

Patty comes back to stand in front of her and holds out his hand. She lets herself be pulled up. "Let's make dinner. You do have food right?"

"Obviously." Auston rolls her eyes and drapes herself on Patty's back as they walk down the hall. 

He threads their fingers together across his chest. "Do you have vegetables?"

"Probably? I hired a service," she says and bites his shoulder blade lightly. 

"Oh boy, ok." They separate a little to walk down the stairs, but he keeps hold of her hand. 

It turns out there are vegetables. They end up overdone, because Auston decides she wants to blow him while they're steaming, so the broccoli turns out really mushy. Patty pulls out the food processor and turns it into soup. It's not very good, but Auston doesn't complain. 

The don't have sex again that night, but she straddles his lap and he fucks her with her favorite vibrator while telling her how beautiful she is. It's the most wholesome filthy sex she's ever had, which is kind of par for the course where Patty is concerned. 

She snuggles into his side and scratches her hand through his chest hair as she drifts off. She likes how soft his skin is. "Night, Patty."

He presses a kiss to the top of her head. "Good night, Auston."

In the morning he facetimes his boys while Auston chops up fruit for smoothies. Eventually he carries the phone into the kitchen when they demand he put Auston on. It should maybe be weird, talking to his family while he's shacking up with her for the weekend, but mostly it's really nice. After they hang up she finishes the smoothies and they head to the gym. 

-

"Have you ever fisted someone?" Auston asks as Patty works shampoo through her hair. 

"You are definitely trying to kill me," Patty says. He scratches his nails along her scalp. She groans and leans back into his chest.

"I've never tried, but I've been thinking about it." He turns her so she's facing him and her hair is under the spray. "I can already take three. And not normal fingers, three hockey player fingers."

He hums and swipes his thumb over her forehead, keeping the soap out of her eye. So considerate, always. "I would probably want to do some research first, I don't want to hurt you."

"I don't mind when you hurt me," she says and rubs hers tits against his chest.

"Ok, I don't want to injure you." He smiles, the one that looks like a grimace. Her favorite one.

"Awww," she says and kisses him. "My hero."

"Your bar is too low," he says against her lips. "Besides why fisting, I thought your generation was all about eating ass."

Auston snorts out a shocked laugh. "What do you know about eating ass?"

"I haven't been old my whole life," he says.

She raises an eyebrow. "Seems fake, but ok."

He crowds her against the wall. The tile is cold on her back, but she ignores it, kissing him back. Auston can feel when he starts to get hard against her hip. She slips her hand around his dick and strokes experimentally. 

"What kinky sex thing were boomers into?"

He pulls back from kissing her neck to stare at her. "Boomers? Auston, do you think I'm a baby boomer?"

Auston shrugs and Patty starts to turn away. "I have to go, I'm apparently a thousand years old."

"No, come on!" She laughs and wraps her arms around him to pull him close. He's still half hard and she drops to her knees, taking him into her mouth. She leans back and looks up. "Don't come. Want you to fuck me."

"Alright," he says, his breath hitching. He rubs a thumb on her cheek as she takes him deeper into her mouth. "How do you want it?"

She considers iit as she sucks casually at the tip of his dick, thinking back to all her favorite times with him. "On my stomach." She tongues at his slit and his fingers flex in her hair. "Like how we did it in Boston."

"Mmmm," Patty says. "Ok, ok, stop."

They fuck how she wants, laying on her belly with him on top of her, his chest pressed all along her back. They can't move much like this, he just grinds into her, one arm wrapped under her. She cranes her neck to kiss him until it gets to be too much and she's just moaning into his mouth. 

He cleans them up when they're done and they lay in her bed, legs tangled together, heads close. 

"Can't believe you got traded." She can really, she knew it was coming, but she still feels an empty space in her chest when she thinks about him not being there next year. 

"I'm going to miss you too."

She wants to look away or hide from the open way he's watching her, but there's nowhere to really go. "Didn't say I was going to miss you," she teases, poking him in the ribs. He takes her wrist in his hand easily.

"Oh no? You won't miss me at all?"

"Fine maybe a little." She smiles at him. "Who's going to pass out in my bed after half an episode of Game of Thrones?"

"Maybe they'll trade for another vet for you and Mitch to bully about being old and tired."

"You're the only old man for me." Auston flicks his nipple. He sighs with a shake of his head. "Ugh, fine," she says and snuggles into his side. 

-

Patty's last night they go out to dinner. The waiter pours their wine, pretending not to ogle Auston as he does. She let him pick the bottle. It's good, local. 

"Have you talked to Mitchy?" Patty asks when they're alone. Auston's eyes fly up. She'd assumed this would be a thing everyone pretended wasn't happening. 

"Yeah, of course." It's not a lie, they've texted. Or, they've been in a group chat together. She sent him a selfie from the gym with "fuck box jumps." 

"You can't let this stuff impact your relationships," Patty says gently. 

"I know," Auston says. "It's a business, I know."

"I know you know," Patty says. "But it's easier said than done. It gets complicated."

Auston knows. She does. She knows it's not personal, even when it feels that way. She knows Mitch isn't his dad. And it's not like Paul Marner is the first father to resent her for being better than their son. 

"I know," Auston says, quieter this time. "I'm trying."

Patty sighs then nods, seemingly satisfied with her answer. "So," he says, clearly trying to lighten the mood. "Are you seeing anyone?"

Auston laughs and shakes her head. "What's with the third degree tonight?"

Patty shrugs. "Indulge me, I want to know about your life."

"Well, Barzy visited last week and one of the Sun Devs assistant coaches and I have hooked up a couple times."

Patty shakes his head indulgently. "I mean are you dating anyone?"

Auston smiles, all sweetness. "Is this not a date? Just because I'm your side piece?"

"You're not a side piece." He says, like he doesn't know what the term means. 

"Side chick?" Auston says, tangling their legs together under the table. "Mistress?"

"I don't like that term." Patty frowns at her. "It sounds so illicit, you're not a secret."

"I'm not dating anyone," Auston says finally when he doesn't drop it. "I just haven't met anyone I'm interested in."

Patty takes a sip of wine and raises his eyebrows at her. "Really? No one?"

Auston tries to ignore the way her stomach flutters and the person her mind jumps to. Thankfully Patty drops the subject. 

That night she lets him call the shots. He undresses her slowly, his palms lingering on her skin. It makes her breath feel short, but she likes how careful he is. She doesn't know when they'll see each other again, and she wants him to remember them like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently they DID actually go to The Hot Chick, I love to be right.


	3. Not a Big Deal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warnings in the end notes.

Garrett comes into town a few days later to train with some of the guys on the Sun Devils, so she invites him over to hang out with her and Trevor. They hadn't been particularly close during the season, but he's chill and she always enjoys showing people around Scottsdale. 

The three of them sit around the fire pit after the sun sets, drinking a Chardonnay Trevor brought back from his latest vineyard tour. Garret watches her with a hunger she'd never noticed. Auston doesn't know if she just hadn't been paying attention or if it's new, the kind of attraction born from seeing someone in a different context. She's surprised by just how into it she feels.

Auston looks back, open and challenging and eventually Trevor excuses himself. 

It's not a surprise when Garrett follows her upstairs, past the open guest rooms and into her bedroom. She'd known for the last hour it would go like this, but she's not expecting how confident he is, how he puts her where he wants her, how much she likes it. 

"You love this don't you?" Gartett says, his voice hot in her ear. She wants to retort, but she can't seem to form words right now. "Yeah, you love it. You could take more couldn't you."

He’d spent the better part of an hour just using his mouth and his fingers on her. She isn’t usually into ass stuff, but when he’d pressed his fingers tips to her hole she’d already been half delirious with pleasure and it lit her up in a way she’d never felt before.

Now she's sitting on his dick with one of Garret’s long, lanky arms wrapped around her to fit two fingers in her ass. It’s fuller than she can ever remember feeling, so full she can barely think, can't move. He pushes his fingers farther into her, shoving her forward on his dick. It makes Auston cry out out and she presses her face into the warm skin of his neck. She keeps her arms pulled tight around his shoulders and whines as he fits another finger into her. 

"Do you wish my fingers were another dick?" When she doesn't respond he pulls her back by her hair and looks at her, eyes so intense she gets a little lost them. It sends a thrill through her, like an electric shock. "Tell me, Auston. Do you wish you were being split open by two dicks right now?" 

Shame and desire flood her system. She feels so vulnerable like his, completely at his mercy. She nods. 

"Dirty girl." Garret says. His voice is low and growly. "You'd look so fucking hot like that."

"Can you kiss me," she begs, feeling flayed open in a way she hadn't expected. 

"Whatever you want, baby," Garret says and does. 

-

They're still in bed the next morning when his agent calls. He steps into the bathroom and she can hear his voice muffled through the door. When he comes back all he says is, "Vegas."

Auston grimaces. "At least the girls there are hot.” 

He sits at the edge of the bed, his back to her. She's not quite sure what to do. Even when Patty got traded she wasn't the one comforting him. She and Garret aren't even that close.

She figures there's one thing she can do, so she kneels behind him, draping her arms over his shoulders. He smells like sex. "Wanna not think about it for a little bit?" she whispers in his ear. 

He gets her off three times with his mouth, kneeling next to the bed, barely coming up for air. Auston can hear his phone buzzing on the floor the whole time. She hopes for his sake her thighs muffle the sound. 

When he finally pulls away he wipes his face with his t-shirt and moves up the bed like a cat. His eyes are wild and it shoots a thrill through her. She's exhausted and boneless and so thankful she doesn't have to be in the gym today. 

"Thought you might suffocate down there," she says, hooks a leg around him and smiles. "What a way to go, eh?"

He grins at her, low and feral. She's wrung out, but she still throbs at it. 

"Who knew you were so filthy, Matts."

"Feels like you did," she says and kisses the taste of herself from his lips. 

She pulls a condom out of her drawer and hands it to him. He arranges her ass up at the edge of the mattress and pushes into her, standing next to the bed. The pace he sets is relentless and she's already so sensitive it's almost too much.

"Fuck, you're so hot," he growls and smacks her ass before slamming back in. "Look at you, so up for anything, aren't you?"

She whines and arches her back, feeling him even deeper. He slams into her again and again and she's wailing at this point, because it aches, but it also feels so good she never wants it to end. Eventually his hips stutter and he slows, then stops. Auston lays slumped on the bed, but she's barely caught her breath when he flips her over onto her back and licks into her. It's definitely too much now and she whines but he keeps at it, thrusting his tongue deep inside her until she comes, her whole body shaking. She must pass out, because when she finally opens her eyes he's already fully dressed at the foot of her bed. 

"Good luck in Vegas," she mumbles. 

He smiles and rubs a thumb over her ankle bone. "Thanks Matts."

She's asleep before she even hears the front door close. When she wakes up she looks at her phone. There's a ton of notifications, but she ignores most of them except for a text from Freddie. 

**FredEx**  
_Heard Sparksy was in AZ when he got the news. He doing ok? _

Auston's thumb twitches over the home button, but she has read receipts on and she doesn't actually want to leave Freddie hanging. If it were Mo or even Patty asking she would tell the truth, probably "Better than OK after I let him hit it from the back 👅👅👅." But it makes her feel kind of sick thinking about telling Freddie, even though she knows he wouldn't care, that he'll find out eventually. 

**Auston**  
_Yeah, I think so._

She wanders into the kitchen. Trevor is scrubbing the stovetop, a floral headband pushing his hair back. "Fun morning?" he asks. 

"Think you know," Auston says. She pours herself a cup of coffee from the carafe. 

"Unfortunately I do."

Auston laughs and grabs her phone on the way to the living room. "You had right of first refusal, bud. Don't blame me cause I signed an offer sheet," she half yells over her shoulder. 

Trevor yells something back, but she can't make it out. She looks at her phone and watches as the three dots appear and disappear. Finally Freddie's text comes through, _ Glad to hear it._

Auston doesn't know what to do with that, but she hasn't known what do so since that night in Montreal. The way he'd looked at her, she knows she _ knows _ he wanted her, but when she leaned in he pulled back and said "This isn't a good idea." She'd nodded and gone back to her room and they hadn't talked about it. 

-

Biz texts her at 6:45am on Saturday morning. 

**Biz If Yer Nasty**  
_Come hang with me at the W today._

_Put that new contract to use_

It’s too early for all that, so she throws her phone on her bedside table, rolls over and goes back to sleep. She texts him later as she and Trevor are drinking coffee on the veranda. 

**Auston**  
_Only if you tell me what you're planning for media day._

She turns to Trevor. "Wanna go to the W with Biz today?" 

"Biz?" Trevor says, putting down his crossword puzzle.

"Paul Bissonnette." Auston scrolls through a bunch of links her stylist sent her. 

"Dude, I know who Biz is," Trevor says. "You know he's definitely trying to hit that."

"Obviously," Auston says. She's not an idiot, she's heard his podcast. 

"You gonna let him?"

"Do you like these?" She shows him a pair of deep purple joggers on her phone. 

"Eh," Trevor says. "So, you gonna?"

"I haven't decided yet." 

Trevor snorts. "That's a yes."

There are four women lounging around the table with Biz when Auston and Trevor show up. Biz doesn't get up to greet her, keeps whispering something in the ear of the tiny blonde women to his right. He looks smug, like she's buying it at all. Auston knows when a guy is trying to play her, make her jealous so she chases him. She isn't fooled and she isn't impressed. 

They sit on the opposite couch and Auston strikes up a conversation with one of the other women. She's a Coyotes Ice Girl, so Auston exchanges snap info with her. Maybe she'll introduce her to one of the guys when they play here. Auston glances over at Biz and winks when she catches him staring. 

"So," Biz says, eventually sliding over next to her on the sofa. Everyone else is in the pool, but Auston had stayed behind, curious to see his game in action. She'd started counting in her head when everyone else had gotten up, betting Biz would move closer within thirty seconds. It took fifteen. 

"You've been busy this summer." His voice is thick with suggestion and she knows he doesn't mean training. 

"Been keeping tabs on me, Paul?" Auston says, sugary sweet. 

He's leering now and it absolutely should not be working for her. "Big fan of your work," he says. 

"Oh yeah? I love to meet my fans."

"Been a minute though, eh?" Biz takes a gulp of his vodka soda and raises his eyebrows. "Marleau left a week ago."

Auston stretches out her legs, resting her feet on the table. "Sparksy is going to be so sad you didn’t think about him."

"Sparks?!" Biz gapes at her. "The back-up? And you're still paying me dust? I'm starting to take this personally, Matthews."

Auston laughs. "He won the Calder Cup," she says. "Remind me what hardware you have?"

"I'm a broadcaster," Biz says, trying to play at faux offended.

"Yeah, but local." Auston scrunches up her face. "I fucked Sharp and he does national. Plus he actually does have a cup. Two."

"You fucked Patrick Sharp?" His voice is hushed, almost reverent. 

Auston smiles, remembering. "Yeah. Twice."

"Well, fuck," Biz says and downs the rest of his drink. 

Auston grins and thinks maybe, maybe, she's done teasing him. He’s watching her with a hooded, intense stare. She holds her margarita up to her lips and flicks her tongue to get a bit of salt. He licks his lips. 

She breaks the silence. "Ok, so here's how it's going to happen."

Biz does them both a favor by not opening his mouth. She traces the tattoos on his sides with her eyes. 

"You're going to pay the bill," she says. Biz nods, and steals a quick glance at her tits. "Then you're going to get a room upstairs. One with a tub, ok?"

"Bathtub, got it."

"I'll be up there in 30 minutes. I want champagne waiting. Something expensive, but not Dom, that's boring. Do you have condoms?"

"I have a condom," Biz says, as if it's obvious. 

"I said condoms, Biz." Auston slips her hand up his thigh and under his shorts. "I don't have anywhere to be until tomorrow afternoon, so request a late check out." She pauses and pulls at her lip with her teeth. "If you're up for it."

-

He's in one of the hotel robes when he answers the door to room 1731 forty-five minutes later. 

"Ohhhh fancy seeing you here." He toasts his glass of champagne at her and steps back to let her pass. 

She plucks the glass out of his hands and downs it in one gulp. "Nice choice. Armand?"

"You have expensive taste, Matthews," Biz says. "It's so fucky hot."

"Oh yeah?" Auston holds out her flute and he refills it, the bottle dripping condensation on the rug. She perches at the edge of the bed and stares up at him from under her eyelashes. 

"You know you're a smoke show," he says standing in front of her, legs wide. 

She toys with the belt of his robe. "You should strip, show me what you're working with."

He smiles at her and doesn't hesitate, tosses the robe across the room and stands in front of her, totally naked and half hard. 

"Retirement's been good to you," she says, tracing the cut of his abs with her fingertips. His dick is nothing to write home about, but she knew what she was getting into. Guys don't get to be that funny when they're packing heat.

He smirks and puffs out his chest a little. Auston wants to laugh at him, but she's actually a kind of turned on at this point. She wraps her fingers around his dick and strokes slowly, feeling the weight in her hand. 

"I want you to fuck me, and if you come before I do, you're gonna make it up to me." Biz nods, but she stares back at him expectedly, hand going still, but grip firm. 

"Yeah, of course." Biz spills out. 

"Good." She stands, so they're close and strips off her shirt. She likes his cologne, it’s warm and woody, but she doesn’t recognize it. "Ok, Bissonette, impress me."

He does impress her, unfortunately. After he's fucked her within an inch of her life she collapses back onto the pillows, her skin still tingling. He tosses the condom across the room and straddles her splayed legs. 

"Can I come in your mouth?" He asks, his fist squeezed tight around himself.

"What's your second choice?" Her whole face is still buzzing and her lips feel big, like the feeling of novocaine wearing off. 

"Your face." He looks so hopeful she almost says yes, but it'll definitely get in her eye. She fucking hates that.

"Third choice then."

"Tits?" His voice is desperate now, almost a whine. 

She nods and he scrambles up, coming in streaks across her chest before he can steady himself on the headboard. She holds him by the thighs, so he doesn't tip over and knee her in the face. 

He slumps against the wall, half sitting on her belly. There's come all over her neck, and now that her orgasm has faded she can feel how sticky her thighs are. She squirms under him and he grunts and rolls off her. 

They make it through half a box of snug fits before she has to leave the next day. Auston is sore enough that she can feel it when she walks. She refuses to give him the satisfaction, so she hides the hitch in her step until she's sure she’s out of view. 

-

"I feel like all my steady hook ups are falling through this summer." Auston stretches her legs and kicks at the surface of the pool. She’s scrolling through her contacts and with Patty on a camping trip with his family there’s no one to even send nudes to. She and Biz had fucked a few more times, but he kept trying to invite her to Jade Bar, which is a date spot and she’s having none of that. 

Trevor nods sympathetically, but doesn't say anything. Instead he takes a long sip of his wine. 

Auston tosses her phone aside. "My pussy game used to be so bomb. What happened?" 

Trevor is still quiet next to her, which is unusual. 

“What?” She says a kicks water at him.

“I doubt it’s your pussy game,” he says incredulously and kicks water back. 

“Then what is it?” She groans and lays back. Then something clicks. “Wait! This all started with you!”

‘Uh,” Trevor says and won’t look at her. 

“You were the first one to want to stop hooking up this summer! If it wasn’t because I’m bad at sex why was it.”

“You’re fine at sex,” Trevor says. “Let it go.”

“I can’t let it go,” Auston whines. “Should I start getting brazillians again? I like the landing strip, but I can go bare again I guess.”

"God dammit,” Trevor says and runs his hand over his face. “Ok, so here's the thing Matts. It can feel kind of intense with you."

"Intense?" Auston searches her memory. She's pretty sure she's hella chill. 

"Not in a bad way." Trevor gestures a little with his hand, like he's thinking. "Like ok when we were sleeping together, I don't know, it's like, you would be like really focused on me, and it was amazing. I really liked it. I liked it too much."

Auston turns on her side and searches Trevor’s face. "If you liked it why did you say we had to stop?" 

“I liked it too much.” Trevor is holding his body all hunched and tight. “It made me want more.”

“Oh,” Auston says, not sure what else to say.

Trevor lowers his voice. "Can this not make things weird please?"

"Obviously," Auston says quickly. "You're my best friend."

They sit quietly for a minute, Auston trying to make sense of what Trevor said. "Ok, so the reason we stopped fucking isn’t because you thought I’d harsh the vibe when you were wheeling?"

Trevor laughs, which makes something untwist in her chest. "Matts, that's how you think, not me," he says. “I don’t know, we never really talked about what we were doing and I guess for a little while I let myself think it could be more.”

Auston blows out a breath and sits back up. She pulls a wet foot under her leg. 

"It's not a big deal," Trevor says and pulls her into his side. "Honestly, it's fine now.”

Auston thinks back over the summer and turns some of it over in her mind. The music from a party nearby and the smell of chlorine hang in the air. 

“I just think it would be good to go into these things being honest about what you want,” Trevor says gently. He rests his cheek on her head. “I think it'll be good for everyone."

Auston thinks about that night in Freddie's condo, how he'd looked at her and thinks honestly is probably overrated. She doesn't say that though. Trevor is leaving for Denmark in less than a week, she wants to make the most of it.

"Thanks for telling me," Auston says. She's not sure she's happy she knows, but he seems relieved. “No weirdness, pinky swear.”

"Love you, Aus,” he says and hugs her a little tighter around her shoulders.

-

Trevor leaves for Denmark and the house feels completely empty without him. Twitter is even more unusable than normal, because everyone keeps tagging her in tweets about Mitch's contract. They've been texting, but the only topic that feels even remotely safe is their fantasy league. Auston tries not to think about it. 

Freddie posts a picture of Lars Eller to his finsta. Nothing special, just a picture of her backstage at their signing smiling wide and perfect. He hasn't mentioned anything about her recently, but he hadn't told Auston they'd dated last summer until halfway through training camp. She tries not to dwell on it, but an hour later she scrolls back to that picture for the third time. It makes her feel sick to her stomach in a way she should probably examine, but doesn’t. 

She fucks the trainer with the good arms and it's kind of disappointing. Fucking figures.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   * I would describe some of the sex in the chapter as "porny" in a way that could be hot, gross or both depending on your perspective (dp, dirty talk, overstimulation etc).
>   * Mentions of the Mitch contract drama


	4. Open Like a Book

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fall is coming quick and Auston's not not thinking about it.

A few weeks later Rich comes into town with his brother and invites Auston to come with them to some boxing gym in Tempe. She thinks boxing is mostly dumb, but she's curious and anyway she's always up for a challenge. 

The gym is a little rank, just a large concrete room with a sagging ring in the center and some bags strung perilously from the rafters. 

"Nice place," she says as she tosses her bag in one of the a tilting cubbies along the wall. 

"Snob," Rich throws back.

Before they start Rich wraps her knuckles up carefully, even though she's not really going to spar or whatever. The juxtaposition of him has always gotten to her, how brawny he is, while being so soft, tenderly holding her palm with his calloused fingers. 

"I'm not gonna break from a little play fighting, Dicky," she says, trying to cut through some of the tension she's feeling. 

"These hands, can't be too careful," he says. "Each one's worth what, thirty mil? And I've seen what they can do."

"You haven't seen everything they can do," Auston says under her breath, so only he can hear. 

He huffs a laugh and taps the last piece of tape down, letting her hand drop. She knows she's not imagining the heat in his eyes when he watches her or the energy between them, but he never responds when she says anything suggestive. She doesn't get it.

He takes her through warm ups and then shows her some moves, has her throw jabs at him, throwing some back when her arm drops, leaving her open. She's beginning to see the appeal. 

When she’s full on drenched in sweat and breathing heavy they sit on the bench at the edge of the room, drinking water, catching their breath, watching Ben and some other guy spar in the ring. 

“You’re dropping your elbow, Benji,” Rich yells. 

Auston thinks about what Trevor said. 

"Hey, do you wanna come back to my place after this?" Auston whispers. Rich looks like he's about to respond, but she barrels on. "I'm not, like, interested in a relationship, not even when we get back to Toronto, but you're really hot and I think it would be fun." 

Rich turns to her, his eyebrows raised. He looks surprised, but he can't be, she's dropped so many hints. "Yeah, ok." 

Auston stops herself before saying something embarrassing like, "Wait really?" Because she's not surprised he wants to, she's just shocked he finally said yes. 

He laughs. “Can’t imagine you get a lot of nos.”

She grins, because she doesn’t want to dwell. “You’d be surprised.”

They stop at Sunlife for smoothies on the way home and she likes the way the girls in line ogle him. It gets her wet thinking about how she's the one who is about to have her hands all over those muscles. 

They’re barely through the door when she pushes him towards the living room, shoves him into one of the oversized armchairs and climbs into his lap. 

"I wasn't sure if this was gonna happen," she says and then kisses him, moaning when he wraps his big arms around her waist. 

"I didn't think you knew what you wanted," he says. He scrapes his teeth over her shoulder, pulling at the neck of her t-shirt. 

She pulls back a little, putting her palms on his chest. "I'm not like in love with you, just so we're clear."

He gives her a puzzled look. "Yeah, I kind of got that when you said you wanted this to be a one time thing."

"Yeah, but like apparently I can be kind of a lot" she makes finger quotes in the air and he smiles, "in bed and it makes people feel like we're in love I guess."

He smiles.

"Thank you for the warning, I'll keep it under advisement." He pulls her back in by the neck and kisses her again, deep enough that she stops worrying. 

After a while he leans back and asks if she wants to head upstairs. "My roommate moved to Denmark," she says in response. He nods and pulls his shirt over his head. His body is obscene, she's seen it before, but the effect is different when she gets to stroke her hands over the hard planes of his chest. His pecs are as big as her tits, but just barely.

They fuck in the armchair and the sofa and finally in the middle of the big shag carpet in the den after Rich moves the coffee table out of the way. Auston likes the way Rich keeps his hands on her the whole time, on her hips, her neck, her cheek, her tits. It makes the whole thing feel grounded and sexy. 

After the last round they stand in her kitchen drinking Gatorades completely naked. She likes how comfortable he is in his body. 

He rinses the gatorade bottle out. Auston nods and points to where the recycling is. “So, still not in love with me?” he says and grins. 

Auston rolls her eyes. "Probably the only one."

"Awww, Matty," he says and then cocks his head. "So, are you good?"

Auston laughs even though the open sincere way Rich asks catches in her chest. "Obviously, I love summer." 

Rich shrugs, but doesn't look away. "You just seem a little tense."

Auston thinks about Freddie and how he still hasn't called, but she doesn't want to bring that up. "If Trevor was here he would cook for us, I guess I could bake chicken or something."

"Tempting," Rich says, "but I should probably head back." He wanders over to the couch and starts searching for his clothes. 

Auston whistles when he bends over to search the couch cushions. "Hate to watch you go, love to watch you leave."

"Don't objectify me, Matts," Rich says and throws her bra at her head. 

Auston flips the bra onto the counter. No one else is here to care. "Too late."

That night she lays out on a deck chair and stares at the moon. The air is completely still, and quiet enough that she can close her eyes and feel the desert stretching out around her. It's like 4am in Denmark which is maybe what makes her text him, _Miss you._

He doesn't respond, of course he doesn't. Still the disappointment settles over her. Maybe it's the quiet or the heat, but she lets herself remember the look on his face when she'd leaned in to kiss him. How faraway his voice sounded when he'd said goodnight as she fled, trying to keep the slope of her shoulders relaxed, even as she wanted to curl in on herself.

-

Auston goes to Mexico with her family for a week. Malcolm joins them, late enough in the summer that even on vacation she has to start each day with two hours in the gym. He joins her in the shower after some days, and it's nice, the way his hands feel on her wet body. After she'll sit next to him on the beach and watch as he swipes through girls on Bumble. It's a relief, but it makes her wonder if maybe she's ready for summer to be over.

Freddie texts back and tells her he's looking forward to Belfry. Her stomach does a complicated series of swoops, so she just sends back a few flexing emojis and jumps in the pool to distract herself. 

The summer feels like it's picking up momentum as it gets closer to the end. She ships most of her stuff to Toronto and goes out for one last dinner with the fam. Her mom tears up and Auston tries not to, she's used to being away, but it somehow never makes leaving easier. 

She gets to Miami and she can feel the air sitting heavy on her skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really trying to finish this baby. The final chapter is half written, so it's probably a bit away (sorry!), but I am committed to finishing it.


	5. If They Ask How I Know I Gotta Plead The Fifth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The summer is almost over, but not yet...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not me coming in after months to update but not with the final chapter! I swear I was just gonna finish it, but I had to include my favorite Iron Man....
> 
> I honestly can't promise I'll ever finish this but I am gonna try....

Arriving at hockey camps still feels the same as it did growing up. The hockey bags piled on the luggage carts around the lobby have a lot more NHL logos than when she was a kid, and the lobby is a muted white marble instead of some terrible maroon carpet, but seeing people she’s known for years, chatting and reuniting in small groups remains the same. 

She sees Mat first and they haven’t talked much since he left, but he grins when he sees her. “Aus!” he yells as she approaches and pulls her into a friendly hug. “What’s up, killer?” 

“Ready to get your ass kicked?” Auston says as she knocks her fists against Dylan Strome’s and Alex DeBrincat’s. “Sup boys?”

Mat laughs, like he does, like getting shit talked is the most delightful thing to ever happen to him. “Not by you.”

She has plans for dinner, so she slaps them on the back and heads to the registration desk to check in. Her agency booked everything, so she’s not surprised they put her in a penthouse suite, though she is absolutely going to catch shit about it. 

As she’s taking her key cards she feels a prickling at the back of her neck and turns around to see Freddie standing across the lobby talking to Roman Josi. His hair is longer than the last time she saw him, large curls that make Auston think about burying her fingers in them. Freddie looks up, like he can sense her staring. He smiles at her, small and shy, in a way she knows he isn’t, not really. He taps Josi on the shoulder and crosses toward her. She lets her feet carry her towards him. There’s a moment, when she wonders if it will be weird between them, but he reaches for her and wraps her in a warm hug. She melts into it, fighting the urge to just keep holding him or do something truly embarrassing like inhale his scent. 

“What’s up Mats?” Freddie says, his accent just the tiniest bit stronger than usual. “Good summer?”

“Yeah,” Auston says, taking a step back. She smiles at him and feels her heart contract in her chest. “But I think I’m ready to get back to it.”

Freddie smiles and wets his bottom lip. Auston swallows and tries to think about literally anything else. Then he checks his watch. “I’m meeting Hil for dinner I should head out.”

Auston feels all the weight in her chest drop into her stomach. She knew Hilary was coming, had even looked forward to it, but she’d been thinking about Hilary Knight the hockey player, somehow forgetting about Hilary Knight, the ex girlfriend. 

“Tell her I said hi,” Auston says at the same time as Freddie says, “You could join us.” 

“Nah, I’m meeting the crew from the program,” she says. She has an hour before they’re meeting up, Charlie just texted that she’s still at baggage claim, but she still looks at her phone and says, “I should probably go up to my room and change. I smell like plane air.” 

“You smell fine, Mats,” Freddie says with a small huff of a laugh. “See you later?” 

Auston nods and tries to smile lazily at him, like her body isn’t screaming at him to stay. It’s been five minutes and Auston can feel every ounce of chill leaving her body. It would be embarrassing if it weren’t so fucking depressing. She shakes it off, grabs her bag and heads towards the bank of elevators. Kieth Yandle holds the door for her and she grins at him. 

“Oh shit, what’s up Matthews?” He laughs as she presses the topmost button. “We get it, your big girl contract kicked in.”

“Don’t be a hater, Yands,” she says and leans against the full length mirror along the wall. 

“I see you got Andersen to tag along,” he says. “Usually camp is an excuse to brutalize some poor ECHL tendy, but it’ll be good to make us work a little I guess.” 

“Oh, are you gonna try this year?” Auston says to him as the doors open on his floor. 

He barks out a laugh. “Good talk, Matts.”

Auston goes to her room, opens the french doors to the balcony and face plants into the center of her bed. She buries her face in the soft white material of the duvet and listens to the sound of the ocean breeze. Her breath feels stuttery in her chest, so she works to slow it down. It’s fine Freddie doesn’t want to fuck her. She already knew that, but seeing him just reminded her all over again, the feeling fresh and raw in her chest. She tries to distract herself, it’s not like he’s the only guy at camp. Hell Noah and Mat are both here. She’s pretty sure Colin is still coming, and he’s been trying to smash since U17s. 

Auston huffs out a small breath against the sheet and gets up. She showers and blows out her hair, puts on just enough make-up to look good, but not like she tried. 

Cheeks  
Girl get down here, our resi is in 15

Auston  
🖕

She gets down to the lobby and it's just Noah, Jordan and Charlie, lounging around on one of the wide backless couches on the edge of the lobby. Colin isn’t even there yet, so it’s not like she’s the last one anyway. 

“Whitey’s flight got delayed,” Charlie says as Auston approaches, as if she can read her mind. So annoying. Auston hugs her, letting her hold on a second too long, just because she misses her and it’s rare they get to hang out when they’re not playing each other. 

“Car's here,” Jordan says. 

They sit outside at Catch. She sees just about every model who passes their table check Noah out, but he doesn’t look back at all. Auston guesses that means he and Hayley are back together. Oh well, it’s not like he was Auston’s only option. Or that Auston even really wants to hook up. She tries not to think of where Freddie is right now as she grabs a piece of toro too hard with her chopsticks, ripping it in half. 

“When are you gonna teach me to surf, Cheeks,” Noah says, flicking his long blond hair out of his eyes as if to prove he belongs on the waves.

“It is not my fault there’s no break in Hyannis,” Charlie says, smiling sweetly. Jordan laughs and Noah stares back coldly. “Just come down to Strong Island, I’ll teach you everything you need to know.”

“Pass,” Noah says. 

Jordan tells them about his road trip with his brother and Auston fiddles with her phone. She wonders if Freddie will text her when they’re done. She wonders what option is worse, that he’s already done with dinner and just hasn’t texted her or that they're still out together. Auston tries to tamp down the jealousy that flares through her. It’s not like Freddie is the first friend to not want to sleep with her. He’s hot, but she’ll survive, it’s fine. 

“Matty,” Charlie says, pulling her out of her thoughts. “Really stepped up the insta game this summer, huh?” 

“Who’s the new insta husband?” Jordan asks, eyebrow arched. 

“No one new,” Auston says. “Just finally taught my mom my angles.” 

“Ema is an angel,” Charlie says. 

Noah snorts. “Yeah, not sure where you came from.”

“Fuck off, I’m very angelic,” Auston says. She raises her pinky off her champagne to prove her point. 

“Maybe in the Victoria’s Secret sense,” Charlie says. 

Auston scoffs. “Not with these thighs.” Charlie raises her glass in toast. 

Freddie still hasn’t texted her by the time they get back. Which is fine, she doesn’t care that much. Except everything else aside, he’s her best friend and they normally live in each other’s pockets during the season. Sure this isn’t the season, but it’s close, they're about to be playing hockey together after all. 

And it’s fine, it’s really so fine, until they’re crossing the lobby of their hotel and she hears Mat’s bark of a laugh. She turns to see who he’s hanging out with, but instead finds Freddie and Hilary sitting in two arm chairs in the corner of the lobby bar. Freddie is sitting back in his chair and he looks relaxed and happy, attention completely on her. 

Auston snaps her gaze away, the last thing she wants is to get caught staring. Instead she focuses on jamming away on the elevator button, barely nodding to her other friends as they break off towards the bar. 

“Ohh, fancy seeing you here,” Keith says, sidling up to her. “You gonna take the elevator with me every time, just to remind me I’m a peon on the low floors.”

Auston doesn’t even think before saying, “You wanna come upstairs and check out the view?”

“The view? That’s what you’re going with?” He smiles at her and tilts his body into her space. He smells good, woodsy and expensive. 

“Yeah I was thinking you come upstairs and rearrange my guts.” 

“Jesus,” he says, eyebrows shooting up. “I liked the first euphemism better.”

“Call it whatever you want,” Auston says. Normally she might play it a little more coy. They don’t know each other super well, after all, but she really really doesn’t want to go back to her room alone tonight. “You wanna?”

Keith laughs and rolls his eyes. “Yeah, I fuckin wanna.”

She rides him on the couch on the balcony, because it’s high up enough. She likes the way the wind cools the sweat on her back. 

He kneels between her legs and his beard feels soft against her thighs. She thinks about asking him to rub it all over her body, but then he sucks hard on her clit and she forgets what she was going to say, letting her body go lax into the cushion. 

When they’re done she helps him find his clothes, relieved he doesn’t want to spend the night.

**Author's Note:**

> Content Warnings:
> 
>   * A character initiates sex without getting consent first, it's welcome, but beware if that's a trigger or squick for you
>   * Two characters have sex under the influence of marijuana. 
>   * Two characters have sex under very different expectations and one of them ends up feeling hurt
>   * Mentions of characters having sex in the past when they were both underage


End file.
